Cassidy writes: "Gregory said that he wasn't taking a position on Snowden's actions - he was merely asking a question. I'm all for journalists asking awkward questions, too. But why aren't more of them being directed at Hayden and Feinstein and Obama, who are clearly intent on attacking the messenger?"
Lonnie Snowden holds a portrait of a young Edward Snowden. (photo: AP)
25 June 13
s I write this, a bunch of reporters are flying from Moscow to Havana on an Aeroflot Airbus 330, but Edward Snowden isn't sitting among them. His whereabouts are unknown. He might still be in the V.I.P. lounge at Sheremetyevo International Airport. He could have left on another plane. There are even suggestions that he has taken shelter in the Ecuadorian Embassy in Moscow.
What we do know is that, on this side of the Atlantic, efforts are being stepped up to demonize Snowden, and to delegitimize his claim to be a conscientious objector to the huge electronic-spying apparatus operated by the United States and the United Kingdom. "This is an individual who is not acting, in my opinion, with noble intent," General Keith Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency, told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "What Snowden has revealed has caused irreversible and significant damage to our country and to our allies." Over on CBS's "Face the Nation," Senator Dianne Feinstein, head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "I don't think this man is a whistle-blower… he could have stayed and faced the music. I don't think running is a noble thought."
An unnamed senior Administration official joined the Snowden-bashing chorus, telling reporters, "Mr. Snowden's claim that he is focussed on supporting transparency, freedom of the press, and protection of individual rights and democracy is belied by the protectors he has potentially chosen: China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, and Ecuador. His failure to criticize these regimes suggests that his true motive throughout has been to injure the national security of the U.S., not to advance Internet freedom and free speech."
Continue reading: Demonizing Edward Snowden: Which Side Are You On?
See Also: Excerpts From Snowden's Letter Requesting Asylum in Ecuador
